Eyes turn to education

Fixing the state’s roads and bridges – and how to pay for it – has been at the forefront of debate at the State House for much of this year.

Now, as the budget process for the coming fiscal year plays out, addressing educational choice – where students are able to go to school, and who pays for it – is poised to become a new focus.

Gov. Gina Raimondo, through Education Commissioner Ken Wagner’s address to the General Assembly, was this week set to unveil a proposed school choice program modeled on the system that has been in place in neighboring Massachusetts since the 1990s. The governor had hinted at the initiative in her State of the State address.

The choice program would give local school districts the option of opening up spots for students from other communities, with tuition traveling along with a student from their hometown to their new district. It will be outlined in an amendment offered to the governor’s $8.9-billion state budget plan released earlier this year, which includes changes meant to lessen the fiscal impact traditional districts face when students transfer to charter schools.

Raimondo earlier this month pointed to the school choice experience in Massachusetts and Michigan, saying that while a very small number of students ultimately change districts, those who do often find new options and pathways to success.

“But what these programs really work best for are kids who want to move for a particular reason – like maybe that town has an amazing English language learner program or an amazing robotics program,” the governor told the Providence Journal.

It remains to be seen whether the school choice plan will be palatable to lawmakers, many of whom are likely to oppose any measure they believe would further drain resources from traditional public schools. As the charter school funding debate continues, for example, the House of Representatives has by a wide margin approved a measure that would strengthen the say cities and towns have over the opening or expansion of charter schools.

Also worthy of further consideration is whether the school choice plan would hit some communities and districts particularly hard, exacerbating existing enrollment or budgetary woes while benefiting their better-off neighbors. Fostering a degree of competition is clearly an essential part of the school choice approach, but the possibility of deepening disparity must be acknowledged. Perhaps the full plan, once unveiled, will address this concern.

Expanding the opportunities available to all students is a worthy objective, and at first blush, the school choice plan would seem a proven, feasible way to further that goal.

However, we await full details of the governor’s proposal. As is the case in the ongoing charter debate, concerns over the funding and future of traditional public schools are real and valid. Like all Rhode Islanders, we hope for an inclusive, balanced approach that best prepares our children – and our state – for the future.